


Earth to Keith

by 4r71f1c14l



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, And titles, Fluff, Fluffy, Height difference, I adore this trope, I'm Bad At Tagging, I'm not sorry in the least, Keith is super short, M/M, Mutual Pining, Tooth Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-10
Updated: 2018-06-19
Packaged: 2019-05-20 15:17:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14897000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/4r71f1c14l/pseuds/4r71f1c14l
Summary: Wherein Keith and Lance work at 'Altea', a popular little coffee shop just outside of their college campus. And, for some reason, the spices end up on all of the high shelves on Lance's shift. So, Lance has to help Keith out, reaching for the spices from time to time. No harm in a little fun, right?





	1. Chapter 1

"Laaaaaance," Keith whined, getting another side-eye from an especially impatient customer.

He needed help reaching the cinnamon, (that, for some reason, was kept on an especially high shelf) for this guy's drink.

Lance, for the fucking life of him, would not stop flirting with this customer that had already been served. He wasn't jealous or anything, but this guy was getting more pissed by the second. The girl Lance was flirting with was named was 'Nyma', like what kinda name was that? Nyma. Keith barely stopped himself from scoffing out loud. And she was so... fake. It was obvious that she was just using Lance for free drinks, but did Lance listen to Keith when he had, so helpfully pointed that out? No.

But he wasn't jealous. Just a little annoyed at Lance, that's all.

"Hey, earth to Keith," Keith immediately snapped out of his stupor, looking into the face of Lance himself, snapping his fingers next to Keith's ear.

Keith batted his hand away. "Don't snap at me, you've been flirting with that chick for six years."

"That 'chick'? Jesus, you talk like you cut your hair: _outdated._ " Lance remarked raising his eyebrows at Keith before turning to the shelves.

"Shut up..." Keith mumbled, but there was no heat behind it, just a bit of a fond smile.

Lance's teasing had long since lost it's effect on Keith, since they had known eachother for a long three years now. That, and all of their little competitions were all in good fun.

Except for lazer tag, but they didn't talk about lazer tag. No one did.

"Keeeithh," Lance grumbled. Keith's eyes immediately shot back up to Lance, who had a curious eyebrow cocked up at him.

"What?" Keith asked, blinking a few times at Lance.

"I asked what you needed help with."

"Oh... Sorry. I'm just tired." Keith said, rubbing at his eyes. "I just need the cinnamon."

It pained Keith to see Lance just reach up and grab it. He didn't even need to stand on his tippy-toes, he was just... _tall enough_.

Keith quickly turned from Lance after being handed the cinnamon, and sprinkled it on the top of the drink. He closed the lid and turned to the counter with a hefty apology prepared, but the man was gone.

Keith scanned his eyes across the shop, and even went over to see if their one restroom was occupied, but it wasn't. The guy must've given up on getting his morning coffee and went to work instead.

Defeatedly, Keith turned to the garbage can and was about to toss the drink in before he saw Lance fucking barreling towards him, a panicked look on his face.

"Oh!" Keith said, taken aback. "Did the guy come back?"

Lance looked confused. "Guy? What guy?" He asked. Then a slight look of realization came to his face before he just shrugged. "No, I just wanted this coffee." Lance carefully scooped it up out of Keith hand, winking at his shocked face before taking a sip.

"This is actually really good, Mullet."

....


	2. Chapter 2

Lance pulled his jacket a little tighter around him. He hadn't really dressed weather appropriate, but did he look cute? Hell yes.

He wore a pair of black skinny jeans, with rips all over so that it basically exposed the whole front of his leg. And, a maroon crop top with little golden stars all over it, shimmering in the light.

It was the perfect fall outfit, if the weather was a tad warmer.

Walking up to Altea, he casually reached in his back pocket to retrieve his keys. Usually, he was the first person here in the morning, even showing up before Allura because he lived ten minutes closer. That's why he was surprised when he tried to turn the keys in the lock, and it wouldn't budge. Frowning, he pulled the keys out and opened the door, shocked that it was already unlocked.

As soon as he stepped in, he was greeted by the warm scent of coffee beans, and a little of another scent that was just, so... _Allura._  He couldn't really put his finger on it, but the smell just added to the already cozy atmosphere of Altea, so he wasn't complaining.

As soon as he walked behind the counter, he noticed Allura, standing on her tip-toes and, to Lance's horror, reorganizing the spices so they could be put on a lower shelf.

"No, no, no..." He mumbled, almost unconsciously doing so.

"Well, hello to you too, Lance..." Allura muttered, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

"Why are you redoing the shelves?" He practically sputtered. "I liked them the way they were..."

"Well," Allura started, turning to Lance and brushing her hands off on her apron. "Keith kept bugging me to put the spices on a lower shelf so he could reach them easier. So-" here she stopped talking, and gestured to her previous work.

"You can't do that." Lance was already on a roll, and he damn well couldn't stop himself from making a fool of himself at this point.

"Why?" The inquisitive look on Allura's face was enough for Lance to start to rethink telling her about his grand scheme (which was basically just Keith being frustrated and needing his help reaching for things on high shelves, but that was oversimplifying). Kind of.

"Because..." Lance paused, unsure of how to word it. "Because, I like it when Keith needs my help. It gives me a chance to flirt with him, but subtly." Lance hates how he just word-vomits whenever he gets nervous, but at least he got the words out.

"Since when were you subtle?" Allura asks, slowing returning the spices back to the top shelf.

 _That's_  the thing she was worried about? Not his gigantic crush on Keith, or his desperate attempts at flirting, but his subtlety. Okay.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lance tries to feign offense, but he doesn't know how well he does at it.

"Welll...." Allura starts, pausing to face him. She looked as if she was about to continue, but they suddenly heard the door open behind them. Turning, Lance saw that it was Keith.

His hair was little messy from the wind, but it was... endearing. He had a baggy, yellow sweater on, with... were those leggings? It sure looked like it-

Lance's thoughts were quickly interrupted by Keith, clearing his throat. Lance quickly realized that Keith was still awkwardly standing in the entryway, (blushing something fierce), and must've seen him _very obviously_  checking him out.

So, Lance forced his forming blush down and shot a wink Keith's way, hurriedly turning and heading into the back room.

...

"Allura why can't we just _reorganize_  the shelves, I can't reach anything for shit." Keith was coming dangerously close to whining, but he didn't care.

Allura raised a warning eyebrow at him. She had already explained to him (twice) today that she had a system for organizing the shelves, and that he would have to either buy a step-stool or keep asking Lance to reach things.

"Fine," Keith huffed, giving up on the subject.

...

"Lance!"

Lance heard his name being called from the front of the shop, and he rushed out of the backroom to see what Keith wanted. 

"What do you want, Mullet?" Lance said, passing Keith and ruffling his  _(soft)_ hair as he did. Keith gave Lance a death glare, and gestured up to the cocoa powder.

"You have to ask  _nicely,_  Keith, like a normal human being." Lance hummed, smirking at Keith. He barely got an eye roll out of him, and a stealthy middle finger as Keith turned to Allura's office door.

"Fine!" Lance said, stopping Keith in his tracks. Lance quickly reached up, grabbing the cocoa powder and tossing it to Keith.

Not a smart move on his part, really, because the lidded popped right off, mid-air. 

"Fuck..." Lance mumbled, as he watched the cocoa spill all over Keith, as he caught the now half-empty container in his hands.

"Damn it, Lance." Keith snapped. 

All Lance wanted to do, though, is wipe some of the bitter powder off of Keith's lips and kiss him until he dropped the remainder of the cocoa on the floor. But he couldn't do that, could he?

Not yet.


	3. Chapter 3

"Lance,"

Hearing his name being called, Lance looked up from the table he was wiping off. It was the end of his shift, and Allura was about to lock up as soon as he was done wiping down tables and she was done doing inventory. Keith had gone home a few minutes early, leaving just Lance and Allura alone in the coffee shop. _Great,_ Lance thinks. _More time for Allura to bug me about asking out Keith._

"Yeah?" Lance slowly walked over to the counter, sitting on it and dangling his feet over the other side. Allura sighs upon seeing him with his ass on the countertop, but she didn't say anything. Yet.

"You need to do something about Keith," she said, leaning against the counter opposite Lance. He rolled his eyes, letting out a dramatic sigh before leaning back on the counter, arm splayed out to his sides.

" _Lance,_ "

She sounds absolutely exasperated now, but so is Lance. Almost. He'd never been actually angry with Allura before, annoyed, yes... But angry? Not so much.

" _Allura,_ " he mocked, copying everything down to her preppy, british accent.

"Quit being an ass," she muttered, turning to continue wiping down the other counter. "I'm trying to help you, you know? I think this would be good for you, and Keith..."

Lance hums, thinking to himself. He could talk to her about this... right? Don't get him wrong, he would usually go to Hunk with this emotional bullshit, but Hunk wasn't _here_ , per se.

Sitting up, he nudges the back of Allura's leg with his foot. She quickly turns back to face him, a surprised, yet hopeful, expression molded onto her features.

"You really think it would be good for us?"

...

Keith really needed to ask Allura about getting another shift. A _later_  shift. One that wouldn't have to put his sleep deprived self in the same general area as Lance, and his... _flirty_  antics. And one where he also wouldn't have to hear his ungodly alarm at five fourty-five in the morning. How it could possibly be healthy to wake up before the sun, Keith didn't know.

All of these _unpleasant_  thoughts this early in the morning because this was the third time this week that Keith had seriously considered throwing his alarm clock at the wall and shattering it into a thousand, tiny pieces. Worse yet, this was a new alarm clock, only because he _had_  shattered his old one by throwing it in a fit of tired rage.

Instead of that, Keith only sighed, rolling out of his bed onto the floor. He layed there for a moment, before the carpet started to burn the skin of his cheek, and he begrudgingly decided to get up and get his day started.

He rolled out of his apartment at six thirty, which was almost record time considering how much he loathed early mornings.

His walk to work was actually pretty short, but it sure as hell didn't seem like it. His apartment was a little on the rough side of town, but it was safe if you knew where and where not to go. Altea, however, was not on the rough side of town. The coffeeshop was actually on the complete opposite, where there were small trees strung with fairy lights lining the sidewalks, and there were little bakeries and niche shops everywhere you looked. Keith liked that side of town quite a bit better than the one where he currently took up residence, but he didn't have the money to go to school _and_  move to a better apartment. That was why he had this job in the first place.

He quickly stopped in a small convenience store to buy a fruit punch rockstar. Yeah, he could always get free coffee from Altea, but he preferred to drink the sweet, fruit-flavored carbonation in the mornings.

Altea slowly came into view, he could see the little tables and chairs scattered on the small patio in front of the building. He walked up to the shop, and stood in front of the door for a minute, gathering himself. This, was also a part of his morning routine, gathering up his courage to walk into Altea and deal with Lance's psuedo-flirting for another eight hours. Which, was a little difficult, considering that Keith had feelings for him. They were shoved down and ignored for the most part, but feelings none the less.

They were just so different, Lance and him. Lance was sunshine; annoying at times, yes, but it was a part of his charm. He was a dreamer, rather than an optimist or a pessimist. And when he smiled, it could light up an entire fucking room. That was Keith's favorite part of Lance; his smile. It was either that, or the _almost sincere_  glimmer in his blue eyes whenever he told Keith some lame pick up line. But Keith wasn't like that. He was a pessimist; which, in his mind, was the most sensible option. (You were either right, or pleasantly surprised.) Keith wasn't flirty, in fact, he ignored his feelings to an almost unhealthy point. But it was easier to shove them down, than having all of your goddamn emotions piling up and taking up space in the front of your mind. _Having to think of all that shit constantly has to be annoying,_ he thinks.

However, his thoughts are quickly interrupted by a pair of fingers snapping in front of his eyes. Tan, long fingers, attached to a slim wrist, and a slightly muscular arm-

"Lance," Keith smiled weakly.

"Hey," Lance looked smaller than usual. Maybe a little... nervous? "What's up with you lately?" He was also... softer. He spoke a bit quieter, didn't stand up as tall, didn't seem as confident. This version of Lance, (one that Keith didn't see very often), made him miss normal Lance. He was still sunshine, but not as bright. Like a sunny day with a few clouds.

"Just... tired." Keith said, noticing just how close Lance was standing. Their faces were inches from each other, Lance's tilted downwards a bit to look into Keith's eyes.

Lance paused for a moment, before he mumbled a quick, 'okay' and that big, sunny smile of his lit up his face again. Normal Lance was back in full swing. "Come on, I have something to show you."

Keith thought that he heard a sarcastic, 'oh no,' fall out of his lips but he couldn't be sure because his train of thought was quickly interrupted by Lance grabbing his hand, and _intertwining their fingers_.  All of Keith's thoughts firmly shut off as he dumbly followed Lance into the shop.

Lance had gone pretty far with his fake flirting, but this has taken it to new levels. Keith can't get over how Lance's hand feels against his own, or the stark contrast of their hands; cold porcelain against warm honey. He likes how it looks, how it feels.

Lance pulls him behind the counter, and gestures to something on the floor. Upon Lance releasing his hand, he steps closer to see that's its a wooden step stool, with... Keith's name painted on it in a loopy cursive font, with little red and blue hearts scattered around it.

Keith gasps, stifling a small laugh behind his hand, which was still warm and tingly from Lance's grip.

"Lance... What the hell?" There's no rude intentions behind the question, and Lance could tell, because there was a fond glint in Keith's dark eyes, and it almost made everything worth it.

"So I don't have to help you reach shit every _five seconds_ because you're so damn short..." Lance's soft voice was back, and so was their close proximity. Keith took a few steps backwards, accidentally pressing his lower back to the counter, because Lance couldn't possibly like him, right?

Yet, Lance still took a few steps forward, putting his hands on the counter behind Keith, purposely entrapping him. Lance smiles down at him, and that was the very moment that all of Keith's little impulse control went flying out the window.

Keith put his palms on Lance's jaw, carefully threading his fingers through the short hairs on the back of his head before standing on his toes and crashing their lips together. Obviously, Lance hadn't expected Keith to do that, because it took a moment for him to respond. But once he did, he deepened the kiss, tilting his head for a better angle before moving his hands to Keith's hips. He trailed his hands down to the back of Keith's thighs, and carefully picked him up, setting him on the counter and therefore putting him little higher up. The movement startled Keith a bit, because made a startled noise into the kiss before it was swallowed up.

They both stopped for a moment, leaning their foreheads against each other, lightly panting.

They were having a little bit of a moment before they heard someone grumble something from behind them. If Keith didn't know any better, it sounded like a 'finally'. Lance turned a bit, still between Keith's legs, and said, "What was that, Allura?"

"I said, 'don't fuck on my counters', please..."  



End file.
